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For these sports, I doubt any minor degradation in accuracy would be noticed. I've actually seen one of the bigger barrel manufacturers state not to clean their barrels, and to just shoot a couple FMJ's at the end of a range session to clear out anything left behind by shooting coated bullets. Their take seemed to be that the chemicals would be more likely to harm the accuracy than what was being cleaned out. I clean mine maybe every 5-6 matches though and it stays plenty accurate. When I was just testing out the waters, I cleaned after every match. That said, once you start doing 3-4+ matches a month, you realize quickly how much time you are spending cleaning guns over and over for very little to no measurable benefit...

Thanks for this article. I've been pretty focused on keeping low SD/ES in my loads for the past year or so, and Prima SV in 40 has really fit the bill for those numbers. Much to my surprise though, a recent test run I did of N320 powder, which had about 3x higher SD/ES than the Prima SV load, seemed to consistently produce groups about half the size. That seemed a bit counter-intuitive to me, but as soon as I saw it, I knew it might be time to start doing more "real world" testing after making sure I hit PF, rather than fretting about the numbers...

I would imagine that it's to promote accuracy instead of hosing, which makes sense to me when you're shooting a rifle at pistol distances. *Not complaining about the division...will probably get my own PCC eventually

Mostly depends on weather for me. When there isn't anyone else who wants to or who can help during cold or hot weather, it seems to mess with my shooting pretty bad. During nice weather, not so much that I worry about it (but then again, shooting matches isn't my job). During really hot weather, ROing the whole time gets exhausting, so I won't be ready to deliver my best when it's time. During cold matches earlier this year, it was raining a lot. When I was ROing, I was generally more soaked than everyone else because I couldn't sit under the cover the whole time and one hand was half frozen because I couldn't keep it in a pocket with Hot Hands, which impacted my shooting even worse than the heat. If you have the help, I generally think it's better to switch off.

I had this problem a while back and it was greatly improved by chucking the U-Die, and then further improved by using Hornady One Shot.

I got a bunch of Prima V and Prima SV a while back on this deal, can't believe it's still going on. I heard a rumor that they are trying to dump their stock because they were going to stop importing these powders though...not sure if it's true or not, but I hope it isn't...

Well, why don't you try and let the secret out lol? Kidding aside, they work great for me, and you can get them for 19.99/k during Cabela's sales. Between Winchesters, Remingtons, Ginex, S&B, and CCI, S&B and CCI are the only ones I can really say I liked...and S&B's are 2/3rds the price on sale. I say stack'em deep. The bad part is that it's hard to actually find them on the shelves in store and they won't ship to store for some reason either...so you're stuck paying taxes and the hazmat fee most of the time, which comes out to around $23/k if you order 20 boxes. Still better than $30/k...

I have two loads I've been shooting with it. One is exactly what CHA-LEE used in this thread: http://forums.brianenos.com/topic/245589-super-accurate-eggleston-munitions-401-cal-180gr-bullets/#comment-2735639 The second is an ACME 200gr on top of 3.5gr Prima SV at 1.18 OAL. Both are just above 170PF for me and plenty accurate. I get really consistent drops AFTER the powder is well settled, which seems like it takes longer than with some other powders.

I'm having pretty good luck with Nobel Sport Prima SV right now, and at 15.99/lb, the price is right.

It's not a load I currently use, but 3.2gr of Titegroup at 1.14 OAL got me 135 PF back when I was trying those bullets.

It depends on you. 1. Do you like having "the best"? People shoot the 2011 platform for a reason, but it is expensive. If you get a Glock, and you are the type of person who will always have it in the back of your mind that you really wanted the STI, you'll probably end up with the STI at some point anyway. The more expensive option than getting the 2011 is to kid yourself into buying other things and then eventually ending up with the 2011 anyway. 2. Do you like to tinker? If not, you should probably avoid the 2011 platform. Seems most people have to play with loads, springs, magazines and on and on to get their 2011 running like a well oiled machine. If you just want something that works without having to play with it and get it tuned, a Glock is probably the better choice. At the end of the day, it's the Indian and not the arrow, but that doesn't mean a nicer arrow can't help to some extent, but that extent will not be the difference between first and last...or even first and tenth.

I've seen this issue happen for two reasons. 1. High round-count gun, striker face just became worn. Replace fixes it, but at 1k rounds, that's not the problem here. 2. Gunked up striker channel. The striker channel should be clear of all oil, debris, etc. From what I've seen, a lot of people doing non-detailed cleanings of their XD/XDm's just flip the slide upside down and spray their cleaners/oils on liberally, which will allow those liquids to work their way into the striker channel, and eventually it gunks the channel up and causes light strikes.

I had some Prima SV (awesome powder!), so I went ahead and ordered a sample of the EM 401's. Been working up a new load and have tested with Blue Bullets, Bayou Bullets, ACME bullets (180 and 200's), Precision Black Bullets, Zero Bullets, and Xtreme bullets. The two finalists for what I will continue to load are ACME 200's over Prima SV or EM 180 .401's over Prima SV. Many of these produced good results with either my limited gun(CK Arms Thunder 5.5") OR my wife's limited gun(RIA Pro Match), but those are the only two that have worked excellent in both. Accuracy-wise, they both seem great and are delivering better results than I expected at the beginning of this experiment. At this point, I'm down to splitting hairs between recoil impulses. I'll be testing them head to head when I can to make my final decision, but I do find myself wishing that EM would make some 200's. Funny thing is, based on appearance/QC impressions only, ACME and EM were the two that I assumed would be eliminated early on from the get-go. I was wrong; Both seem to deliver where it counts. Obviously, there is no one load to rule them all, but I think CHA-LEE is on to something here.

Doubt you'd have any problems with that setup. It's usually the oversized bullets used with the FCD that may cause issues in my experience. If you want to be sure, seat a bullet but don't put it through the FCD. Pull it and measure it with the calipers. Then, do the same thing again, except run it through the FCD. If it measures the same as it did in the prior test, then you aren't mashing the bullet down to a smaller diameter. For me, .Precision Black bullets come at .401, and after running them through the FCD were ending up at .3995 (must be really really soft or something...). ACME's started at .401 and ended up at .4005. Blues are sized at .400 and stayed the same through the process, and of the coated bullets I have used are the only ones with nearly a 100% pass rate on the Hundo. Unfortunately, I have one 40 in the stable that needs a minimum of .401 and prefers .402

You'll like the Hundo; It really makes case gauging go faster. I find that a lot of fails actually still work, but I'd rather be extra sure of any ammo I take to matches. Expensive hunk of metal, but as much as we spend on this sport, having a day ruined by easily avoidable ammo problems is silly. I actually have some Eggleston bullets on the way to test...been hearing good things about them. As far as the FCD and U-die combo, I'm not saying that they can't work together. They absolutely can. Most people get one, the other, or both to try and bulge bust cases while loading without a separate step though. Neither are 100% in this regard, and those usually end up being the ones that still fail your case gauge when turned around. In my experience, using both doesn't increase the success rate, and I think that between the two of them, the extra neck tension from the U-die on a round like the 40 S&W is more desirable than a brute force carbide ring being used on your finished product. With a normally sized projectile, it's going to do basically nothing if you are already using the U-die...case has already been sized down. Now, if you are using a .401, .402 projectile or you manage to get a bullet seated slightly crooked that would otherwise fail the case gauge, the FCD is just going to hulk smash them into place, then they're going to pass your case gauge. I don't want those rounds in my match ammo though. Aside from the possibility of coating damage, if you paid for .402 ammo because that's what your pistol likes, why would you want to smash it down to .400ish? Long and short, I think that it can be put to good use in some situations, but I also think that it can simply hide problems from elsewhere in the loading process, without actually increasing the bulge-busting capabilities of the U-die alone. That's just my 2 cents on the subject though, I don't claim to know everything. I do like how easy it is to adjust the crimp with the FCD though...I may try to get the carbide ring out so I can use just the crimping functionality of it. With the redding comp seating die and powder micrometer, the crimp is just about the only thing I can't currently adjust with a turn of my finger...

I do agree that using the FCD together with the U-die as a solution to bulged cases is overkill, and about as likely to cause problems as to solve them. Also, Zero bullets are great...some of the best I've used and would absolutely be my choice if money were no object. That said, they are also ~$180 per 5k more expensive than some of the coated options, so you could either save the money or get yourself 7000 coated bullets for the cost of 5000 Zeros... Since my wife got into USPSA with me, loading effectively and as cheap as possible is paramount

I've noticed this with coated bullets as well and crimp to the same measurement as you. Never had the problem with plated or jacketed bullets. Also, I have the problem on some coated bullets and not others. Sometimes it is not the bullet, but a bulge in the case (yes, even after going through the u-die). If one fails your case gauge, flip it upside down and see if it goes. If it does, then it is the bullet/crimp area, if it doesn't, then it is a bulged case. I've had this problem with ACME and Bayou bullets. Blue Bullets and Precision Black (different from Black Bullets) seem to pass the gauge pretty much every time. What makes them different, I don't know...Blues are sized at .400, but Precision Blacks are .401 just like Bayou and ACME, so that shouldn't be the issue. Any that fail the case gauge just become practice rounds for me.

I use the EGW U-Die, and it is very normal for my loaded rounds to have the "coke bottle" effect. I suspect it's probably a good thing to reduce the possibility of bullet setback with reloaded brass. I don't see anything that would alarm me in your picture.

I got four MBX mags in 40 for my new CK Arms recently. They all ran decently out of the box, but didn't feed quite as smoothly as I'd hoped. AGW has a video out there on what to look at on these mags to make sure they will run well, so I watched it and followed the steps, now they all seem to run great. Can load 21, but still pretty tight, so only 20 reloadable for now. I'm convinced that 21+1 will be possible after some more break-in. My dad also has either four or five of them, but initially had a problem with bullets ending up under the follower (old style followers, the newer ones labelled G25 were meant to rectify that issue I think). He put Grams followers in and hasn't had any issues since. He gets 20 reloadable without issues, but I'm not convinced he will ever get 21+1 since the Grams are thicker than the MBX followers.

I've ordered from them a couple times. Here's my experience... My first order was 115gr 9mm's and 200gr 40's. The 40's had maybe 15% look like the ones in your picture and also found a few 180's, easily noticeable because of the different profile, that I weeded out while loading. The 9's had maybe 5% that looked like your picture and none of the wrong weight mixed in. Weights and measurements on them were as uniform as any other brand I've used. My second order was 180gr 40's. Unlike the first order, the coating was very uniform and I haven't found any different weights mixed in. Again, weights and measurements seemed very uniform. My third order should come in Friday. Honestly, I didn't think I'd get any more when I opened my first order and saw what shape some of them were in (like the OP's picture, haven't seen anything like darkvibe posted). So why did I? Well, I found them more impressive in use than appearance. The price was good, and despite how bad a lot of them looked, they were pretty accurate and left my barrels very clean. Can't ask for much more than that.

I've had problems with the oversized bullets from Bayou and ACME before finally settling on Blue Bullets, which are not oversized. Now in all fairness, accuracy was great with both of them, and the problems seemed to be firearm specific. Long and short, XDm's have tight chambers and don't seem to play nice with the oversized bullets in my experience. The problems occurred with my XDm's in 9 and 40, as well as my dad's XDm's in 9 and 40 and RO 9mm, so they seem to be fairly repeatable (at least with Springfield Armory firearms). The ACME's actually seemed a bit more oversized than advertised, per my calipers. Think I was generally getting .3565 instead of .356, while they Bayous were .356 consistently. Not sure what firearm you're using, but perhaps you are experiencing the same issues I was. I could get the oversized ones to run with a heavier crimp, which I am not a fan of.

Tight chambers, IMHO. I've run into issues with the polymer coated bullets that are sized a thousandth larger than normal (.356, .401, etc). They would plunk and shoot great in everything I own except the XDm's and RO. I'm not a fan of heavy crimps, so I switched to Blue Bullets, which are not oversized and haven't had any more issues.

I had the SDP Compact for a while at the same time I had a CZ P01. It was reliable, shot great, and looked great. I liked it a lot more than the CZ, but always wished it was a full size since I didn't carry it or anything. If you're on the fence, I'd recommend it.

I must have imagined that he mentioned all three sports, my bad. That said, I still wouldn't stick with 9mm if USPSA was on the menu, and would likely make the same choice. Only difference is that I might go with the LDC or 5.5" with SDC instead of the CLR IDPA legal ones.

If I wanted one pistol to do all three sports, I'd probably grab one of the IDPA legal CK Arms 40's on Shooters Connection right now, and then come up with a minor and major load for it. That way you can shoot all three sports without having to shoot minor PF in USPSA, which is a disadvantage to most people.